06/17/13: WWJD part 37 - The Trans-Pacific Partnership
The TPP will have damaging effects on the world we live in. What? You didn't know about? Learn a little bit about it now and research it on your own!! Bush and Obama have put us in another bogus free trade scam with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico...

06/10/13: What Would Jello Do part 36
Here is the latest What Would Jello Do? Jello discusses the N.S.A. and Operation Prism. This is a major story and you should be aware about the invasions of your privacy.

04/05/13: I love you... I am the porn queen
Watch this short film "I love you... I am the porn queen" directed and starring Ani Kyd. Featuring Jello Biafra in 2 roles and Nardwuar as the Porn Director.

07/20/12: SHOCK-YOU-PY! by Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School Of Medicine

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine released two versions of their new song SHOCK-U-PY! as a pay-what-you-want digital download. The two versions are an acoustic sing-a-long mix and a louder rock-a-long mix. The two mixes are available right now on Jello's bandcamp page: jellobiafra.bandcamp.com

Biafra explains: "Better late than never, here's our tribute inspired by the Occupy movement. Not just 'occupy' - SHOCK-YOU-PY! - since my favorite kind of resistance can have theater, pranks and other creative sabotage - non-violent, of course!"

The SHOCK-U-PY! EP (virus 446 - vinyl, CD EP and digital) hits in early fall, followed by the long-awaited new JB/GSM full-length, White People and the Damage Done (virus 450 - vinyl, CD and digital.) "Vinyl and CDs will take a few weeks so we're posting "SHOCK-U-PY!" online now - in two forms. "There's the "sing-a-long mix" from the EP- semi-acoustic and ready made (for the most part) for singing at street protests. Or if you want the usual "rip your head off" approach, there's the "rock-a-long mix" with the guitars way louder. So, hey - now you have freedom of choice: two mixes, pay or don't pay, you decide. Please help us out if you can. I'm way in debt trying to finish the album. Benefit compilations for Occupy can just take it, it's right there!"

The SHOCK-U-PY! EP will also include the non-album song "Barackstar O'Bummer" plus a remix of "We Occupy" another song for the uprising Jello guested on with D.O.A.. "We both go way back in the direct action side of things so I'm honored Joe asked me to sing on this."

"Occupy may be out of the corporate news machine right now but that hardly means that it's gone away and it won't go away until the problems go away. To me it's a reigniting of the anti-corporate 'spirit of Seattle' but this time it's bigger because times are more severe.

The album White People and the Damage Done will include the title track, "Brown Lipstick Parade" (about guess what?), "Werewolves Of Wall Street", "Road Rage", "Mid-East Peace Process", "Crapture" (about the upside to being "left behind" as naked bigots fly heavenward), a ramped-up revival of "Burgers Of Wrath" from Jello and Mojo Nixon's Prairie Home Invasion album and more. "'Burgers Of Wrath' is probably the best song I'll ever write about unemployment and homelessness and works well as both a punk song and an americana song. I've been wanting to play it again for a long time."

The Guantanamo School of Medicine are now Mr. Biafra on vocals and tuneage; Ralph Spight guitars, vocals, keyboards; Kimo Ball still more guitars, Andrew Weiss on bass; plus new drummer Paul Della Pelle (from Philadelphia HC legends Ruin, Helios Creed, Nik Turner's Space Ritual, and more.) EP and album recordings by the usual suspects. Recorded and Mixed by Matt Kelley (lots of Jello, Hiroglyphics, The Coup, Digital Underground, Zen Guerilla, Victims Family, etc.) and Produced by Marshall Lawless.

10/13/11: Jello Biafra on Occupy Wall Street!
The latest episode of What Would Jello Do features Jello talking about Occupy Wall Street!

08/19/11: Jello Biafra on the freeing of the West Memphis 3
Today the West Memphis 3- Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin, were released from prison! Here is a statement from Jello Biafra, long-time supporter of the WM3:

"Wow, some good news for once! I'm very happy and more than a little moved. We need to give them support and space right now. Since they were wrongfully locked up as teenagers, this is basically the beginning of their free adult lives.

What I still can't get over is how the prosecutors and police have let the real murderer of innocent young children run free all these years just so they would not have to admit they were wrong. The same goes for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Wouldn't they rather catch the real killer?"

West Memphis Three press conference after their release today, August 18, 2011.

07/11/11: Jello/GSM San Francisco date is off
Sadly, the announced Jello & GSM San Francisco gig @ Slim's on 8/18 is cancelled, but Seattle 8/19 is still on.

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine are not going through with the July 2 date in Tel Aviv. This does not mean I or anyone else in the band are endorsing or joining lockstep with the boycott of all things Israel.
I am going to Israel and Palestine to check things out myself and may yet conclude that playing for people in the belly of the beast was the right thing to do in the first place.

The toll and stress on the band members and myself has been huge, both logistically and as a matter of conscience. I can't drag anyone any further into rough waters without being better prepared than some of us thought we were. A responsible leader does not go, 'Hey, check out the storm at the top of Mount Everest. Let's go up anyway just in case we don't die.' Some members are angry with me for this decision, let alone how long it took me. I don't blame them.

It would have been so easy to quietly pass on the gig out of fear someone might get upset, and no one would have been the wiser. We could have flown under the radar, left the date off our tour postings and not bothered with a statement, but how honest is that?

Our intention in going was that we thought we could do some good , speaking truth to power, fans and impressionable young minds in a way that most bands don't. What about the people on the same side of the human rights fence we are who now don't get to see us play? Should the be boycotted too? What about the even larger atrocities of the Bush regime and by extension Obama? Should we turn off our mouths of anger and boycott our own country too?
We tried again and came close to landing a Ramallah show, but again, we needed to be better prepared. How fair is it to the organizers to demand a full-on rock show on a few days' notice with a type of music they may not be familiar with? More importantly, how much are we really doing for Palestinian rights if people there don't seem interested in our kind of music at all?

I've been doing this long enough to know better than buy into hardline absolutes such as playing in Israel automatically supports apartheid or Israel's government. That threat is ridiculous. I know far more about this issue than some people think I do, and I am not a poodle for Hasbara, Peace Now, BDS or anyone else.
The first people contacting us went out of their way to be diplomatic and communicate how they felt. Then our Facebook page went from eye-opening and educational to a childish bickerfest between a handful of people, to the point where we had to try something else just to reclaim our own Facebook page.

As the gloves came off, unfortunately so did some of the masks. Calling anyone speaking up for Palestinian rights a 'terrorist' is dumb. So are the blanket condemnations of everyone who happens to be Israeli that seem to be coming from the 'drive all the Jews into the sea' crowd. I also even got an invitation from a self-proclaimed fan to 'come meet the Israeli right' and see the settlements through their eyes, complete with a wine-tasting party. Whew!
Whoever started punksagainstapartheid.com now admits it was aimed solely at one person - me. It is obvious that not everyone signing the petition has any idea who I am, or knows anything about punk, possibly the majority. The last time I looked I could only find three names of people I actually knew. Some made it clear that I will be on their bad list no matter what I do because I dared to even think of playing in Israel.

I can't back anyone whose real goal or fantasy is a country ethnically cleansed of Jews or anyone else. Where people who think for themselves or talk to the wrong person are automatically a sell out. Speaking personally, I currently favor two democratic states in the admittedly naive hope that in our lifetime they can somehow evolve into one. Where race or religion does not matter because people have learned to work with each other.

I think back to last year when JBGSM played in Serbia. The locals we spent time with were not monsters, and filled me in on how they risked their necks for years opposing and demonstrating against Milosevic and were not down with ethnic cleansing at all. But they weren't too happy about being bombed by NATO for over 2 months straight either, and showed the ruined buildings to prove it.

I also heard comments like, 'The Croats killed my grandfather in World War II. I can't forget that...' and 'There's another war coming soon. I can feel it.' The most I could do from the stage is say that I do not know what I would do if the Croats or Serbs killed my grandfather, or a suicide bomber or occupying army killed my child. But I would hope I would be one of those people who could somehow say, 'Can't we have some peace?' The audience seemed to appreciate that.

The next day I laid out my thoughts and emotions to the person giving me a ride in Slovenia. She turned ice cold and said, 'Maybe next time you should play in Bosnia.' Good point. The nightmare continues.

Rise Above, Jello Biafra

06/14/11: Jello Biafra's statement on his tour to Israel/Palestine
Below is today's statement from Jello Biafra. On the Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine European tour, the band is wrapping up the trip with a show in Tel Aviv, Israel. The band will also be traveling to the West Bank.

Dear friends,

Thanks a lot for caring enough to weigh in with all your comments and suggestions. I can't deny I'm glad this has stirred up so much debate. People unaware of the Palestinian side(s) of the story can now use all these links to learn a lot more.

Some have suggested I go to Israel alone for a personal fact-finding mission before bringing the band. Good idea, but I don't have the money and free time some people may think I do. The way I get overseas is to play my way there, so to speak.

We tried for a gig in Ramallah, but no luck. No, I wouldn't have played Sun City back in South Africa's apartheid days. But an underground punk show for an anti-apartheid audience might have been tempting, especially for them. (some RSA punks did ask).

I don't see how the Netanyahu government could manipulate this event for their own purposes. What right wing regime in their right mind would want to namedrop me? I am not exactly known for keep my mouth shut onstage, especially about human rights violations. There is no government sponsorship of this show.

Please understand that we are still torn up about this, in no small part because we are probably 95 - 99% in agreement on this issue with the people writing in. I have been part of Peace Now for years and have contributed to at least one Palestinian medical aid organization.

The main reason I wanted to do this in the first place is not just to see first hand what is going on, but for our likely audience of people already there who are as outraged over the extreme oppression as we are.

I think of all the spoken word shows I have done in the American Deep South, especially smaller towns, where it seemed like every radical and progressive person from a wide area showed up, and let me know how thankful they were I even bothered to come. That they looked around the room and felt they weren't alone. Or that not every American is down with either of our governments' non-stop human rights violations, and that it is important to have allies and friends.

05/06/11: Jello in New Orleans this weekend!
Jello Biafra rocks old R&B classics w/ the New Orleans Raunch & Soul Allstars May 8th! Despite his reputation as punk & political icon, he is a huge fan of many genres of music, so this is a chance for him to do something unusual and different. With members of Dash Rip Rock and Cowboy Mouth backing him up, this is a one-off event, one night only, at the 12-Bar in New Orleans.

04/26/11: JB+GSM Las Vegas shows CANCELLLED!
"Two band members have been called back to New Jersey due to an urgent family emergency." - Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine have had to cancel their Las Vegas appearances this Friday & Saturday. As soon as we know more information about current show/rescheduling we'll post an update.
Our deepest, best thoughts go out to our GSM friends who are grappling with this family crisis.

04/18/11: The latest installment of What Would Jello Do?
In this episode, a heavily made-up Jello (on the set of a film he's doing) holds forth on the Alberta's Tar Sands and the dirty secret of Canada's oil supply. (Canada now supplies more oil to the U.S. than any other country.) WWJD?